Sophomore Claire Bradford from De Pere, Wisconsin was searching for a university where she could pursue all her passions: playing college soccer, being in the city and majoring in mechanical engineering.

“MSOE was the perfect combination of everything that I was looking for,” said Bradford.

At MSOE, she has been able to compete for the Raiders in Division III soccer. Her first two seasons with the team have come with success both individually and for the team as a whole. In 2023, women’s soccer won the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Tournament and qualified for the NCAA Tournament. With a win in the first round, the team advanced to the NCAA Round of 32 for the first time in school history. This past season, Bradford started 21 games and scored 18 goals. She was also named to the College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA) Academic All-District Team.

Outside of soccer, Bradford works on campus as a CREATE Student Fellow. Supporting MSOE’s CREATE Institute, she assists students, faculty and staff in the Nelson Prototype Lab (NPL) with projects and the equipment in the lab. They also assist community partners with projects.

“Meeting new people is what excites me the most about being a CREATE Student Fellow. Between the students and faculty that I work with, along with the students that use the lab often, I have been able to meet a lot of new people.”

One of the projects she has gotten to work on with her peers was hosting a hands-on activity focused on the Servant-Leader attribute of Self-Awareness. The CREATE Fellows all work to embody the MSOE Mindset not only in their work, but also in their lives outside of the classroom.

As she continues her journey at MSOE, Bradford is excited about her upcoming internship this summer at Somerville Architecture where she can gain more hands-on experience.

When she isn’t playing soccer or working with The CREATE Institute, Bradford enjoys spending time with her teammates and going to country music concerts.